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Levi groaned. “Fuck. They’re blaming me for that? I didn’t spill that oil.”

“No, but you’re the face of the brand,” Austin said apologetically. “You know how it is. People associated you with some shit, and you can’t get rid of it.”

Levi stuck his finger under his choker and pulled, trying to comfort himself with the pressure. It just reminded him of the man’s hands around his throat. He’d never been choked in a non-sexy way, and he really didn’t fucking like it.

“Can I donate money to somewhere that will make them stop trying to kill me?”

“They don’t think so,” Austin admitted. “Your manager’s been talking with Dom. They think it’s best if you lie low until security takes care of the activist group.”

“Oh, well, if my manager and Dom think it’s a good idea,” Levi said sarcastically. He checked his phone. He had a text from Dad, who had clearly been notified, as he had messaged Levi to say he was relieved he was okay and to call him if he needed anything. He had no new messages from the friends he’d left at the club. Which was good, since it meant that word hadn’t leaked about his embarrassing hospital trip, or the attack. He’d let them know later. Some of them were real friends, not just colleagues he had fun with while enduring the stressful chaos of being backstage at a fashion show.

Levi thought about it. He didn’t have any shoots or shows coming up for the next month. He’d been planning on taking it easy anyway. He’d planned on hanging out with Austin.

“Can I hide with you?” he asked. “I promise I won’t be an annoying roommate.”

Austin grinned. “Dude, I grew up with you. You’re the worst.”

“Says the guy who could never follow the chore chart.”

“The chore chart was something Dad came up with to try and fail to teach us responsibility,” Austin drawled. “And sorry, but no. I’d be down, but they said it should be isolated. Someplace nobody would expect to find you.”

He said it confidently, but Levi was growing more suspicious by the minute. He knew what Austin looked like when he was acting. He knew Levi wasn’t going to be okay with this.

“Right,” he said slowly. “And where do they say I should lie low?”

“We have an idea,” Austin said, which was a total lie. Austin didn’t sound like he’d had a say in any of this; he was just parroting his boyfriend.

Austin continued, “Ben—uh, the guy who saved you⁠—”

“He didn’t save me,” Levi protested, tugging harder at his choker as he thought back to Ben’s intensely dark eyes and how big his arm had been when Levi was pretending they knew each other. “He just helped.”

Austin stopped talking so he could put all his focus into a judgy look. He was always telling Levi that he should get stronger, put on some muscle instead of sticking to the thin, willowy look that had made Levi famous.

“He said you tried and failed to get the guy off you,” Austin said, “and then you stood back and dialed the cops while Ben got beat up.”

Levi groaned and punched him in the arm. He even did it hard, so Austin knew he wasn’t as puny as Austin claimed. He might be skinny, but he still lifted weights, damnit.

“Says the guy who can’t do any of his own stunts because he keeps fucking them up! You would have been just as helpless.”

“Your muscle density is shit,” Austin replied.

Levi groaned louder. “Oh my god, do not start telling me about protein again.”

“Lifting weights isn’t enough unless you’re fueling properly,” Austin started, and then visibly reigned himself in. “Okay, this isn’t about you breaking a hip when you’re older because you didn’t take care of yourself⁠—”

“Oh my god,” Levi repeated.

Austin talked over him. “What matters is, Ben has a cabin. It’s very remote, and he said he was thinking of going there anyway when he hands the gym over to the new owner.”

Huh. Ben hadn’t mentioned he was handing the gym to someone new. But the guy seemed like kind of a closed book, so Levi shouldn’t be surprised. He barely met Ben; he didn’t have to give Levi his entire life story.

“Okay, so I’ll go to Ben’s cabin,” Levi said. “But you kind of made it sound like Ben is going with me?”

“Yeah,” said Austin, like that was a normal thing to say. He even had the gall to look exasperated.

Levi waited for Austin to realize how weird that was. When that moment didn’t come, Levi said, “So some stranger is going to, what, vacation there while I hide out?”

“What? No, dipshit,” Austin said, going from exasperated to openly annoyed. “People are trying to kill you! Your manager hired him. He’s going to be your bodyguard.”